http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34075I can't help but wonder if you are all having pleasant dreams and if they are being monitored. It is obvious that the average American does not have a clue as to the technological advancements their government has made in monitoring their lives.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." -- John Philpot Curran: Speech upon the Right of Election, 1790.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright
moron." -- H.L.Mencken

Former NSA officer alleges illegal activities under Hayden

By Chris Strohm, CongressDaily

A former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency said he
plans to tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred
at the agency under the supervision of Gen. Michael Hayden beyond what
has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved
the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S.
citizens.

Russell Tice, who worked on what are known as "special access programs,"
has wanted to meet in a closed session with members of Congress and
their staff since President Bush announced in December that he had
secretly authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a
court order. In an interview late Thursday, Tice said the Senate Armed
Services Committee finally asked him to meet next week in a secure
facility on Capitol Hill.

Tice was fired from the NSA last May. He said he plans to tell the
committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional
surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of
Hayden, who has been nominated to become director of the CIA. Tice said
one of his co-workers personally informed Hayden that illegal and
unconstitutional activity was occurring.

The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to hold Hayden's confirmation
hearing next week. "I think the people I talk to next week are going to
be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It's pretty hard
to believe," Tice said. "I hope that they'll clean up the abuses and
have some oversight into these programs, which doesn't exist right now."

Tice originally asked to meet with the Senate and House Intelligence
committees, but they did not respond to his request. The NSA did not
reply to written questions seeking comment for this story.

Tice said his information is different from the Terrorist Surveillance
Program that Bush acknowledged in December and from news accounts this
week that the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of
millions of Americans.

"It's an angle that you haven't heard about yet," he said.

According to an unclassified resume, Tice was a specialist in space
operations systems, command and control warfare, advanced technology and
all-source collection analysis. During an 18-year career, he worked on
some of the most secretive programs in the government.

Tice would not discuss with a reporter the details of his allegations,
saying doing so would compromise classified information and put him at
risk of going to jail. He said he "will not confirm or deny" if his
allegations involve the illegal use of space systems and satellites.

Tice said he would raise concerns that illegal activity was occurring in
electronic reports, but that his comments were deleted from those reports.

Tice was fired last May after the NSA ordered him to undergo
psychological evaluations following a separate clash with agency
leadership, and psychologists diagnosed him as being paranoid. Tice
claimed the order to undergo the evaluations was retaliation for raising
concerns. He also said he saw an independent psychologist who found no
evidence that he has a mental disorder.

Hayden, on Capitol Hill Friday visiting with lawmakers, defended the
secret surveillance programs he oversaw while head of the NSA as lawful
and designed to "preserve the security and the liberty of the American
people."

Hayden declined to comment on news reports about the NSA's database on
private telephone calls, but spoke about the NSA's work in general
terms, the Associated Press reported.

"Everything that the agency has done has been lawful. It's been briefed
to the appropriate members of Congress," Hayden told reporters. "The
only purpose of the agency's activities is to preserve the security and
the liberty of the American people. And I think we've done that," he said.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said, "We're 100 percent behind
Michael Hayden. ... There's no question about that, and [we are]
confident that he is going to comport himself well and answer all the
questions and concerns that members of the United States Senate may have
in the process of confirmation."

A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil.
In an era when other intelligence agencies try to hide those operations, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, is proud of that domestic mission. ........

Pretty freak'in dumb hey what?

May 12, 2006 -- WMR will be at the US Federal Court House today in Washington awaiting any developments in the CIA Leakgate case. The grand jury is scheduled to meet today and there are strong indications that an announcement will be made in the scandal involving "Bush's Brain," "Turd Blossom" Karl Rove.........

Friday 12 May 2006
Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.

Details of Rove's discussions with the president and Bolten have spread through the corridors of the White House where low-level staffers and senior officials were trying to determine how the indictment would impact an administration that has been mired in a number of high-profile political scandals for nearly a year, said a half-dozen White House aides and two senior officials who work at the Republican National Committee.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources confirmed Rove's indictment is imminent. These individuals requested anonymity saying they were not authorized to speak publicly about Rove's situation. A spokesman in the White House press office said they would not comment on "wildly speculative rumors." ....

our problem lies with a government who lives in a state of paranoia. dik cheney actually travles everywhere with a bio-hazard suit...just in case. as if anyone really gives a fuck if cheney is alive or not...other than himself.

but, they are spying on americans....not terrorists...americans. and when we have a government who thinks that al qaeda has "tens of millions" of contacts in the US...we are in serious trouble.